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Thursday, July 31, 2014

For Izzy

If I made a list of all my friends, people who I count on, who support me, who care what's going on in my life, who make a point to keep in touch... at least half of them would be people I have never actually met in person. Some may think it's impossible to really be friends with someone you've never met, but there's no question in my mind that my friends who I haven't met (yet) are just as valuable and real as the friends I see in person. One of my haven't-yet-met friends is Izzy.

Izzy and I met years ago on Scrapbook.com. She's incredibly creative and makes beautiful scrapbook layouts, cards, and other stuff. Unfortunately, she hasn't been creating anything for the past few months, as she's been battling a very aggressive and rare cancer. Today is her sixth and final chemo treatment.

When a local friend has a serious illness or injury, there are lots of helpful things you can do: babysit her kids during treatments, bring a casserole so she doesn't have to cook, run her errands when she's unable to drive. But when the friend lives 2500+ miles away, those things aren't possible. Other than be there emotionally, there usually isn't much you can do.

A few weeks ago, Izzy asked her Facebook friends for a small favor. She wanted to celebrate her last chemo treatment with homemade "Last Chemo!" party hats, crowns, etc. for herself and her oncology nurses. She would then donate the items to the center for other patients to wear during their last treatment. I thought this was a wonderful idea.

I decided to make a necklace. It needed to be durable, both for mailing and because it will be worn by multiple people. I gathered together the following items:

Yes, that is a juice lid. I saved the lids when we made Rhubarb Slush Punch, because they are really handy for crafts. I used the Crop-a-dile to punch the hole and it went through easily.

Here's the finished necklace:

I wrote a message on the back for Izzy and all future cancer patients who might wear it. I hope it brings them strength and helps them feel like the warriors they are.

Cindy, I can't tell you how perfect this was and how much I LOVED it. Thank you so much. I had a really special day. My favorite part was encouraging other patients. I passed a lot of my party stuff, including your necklace with the sweet message on the back, to a young ovarian cancer patient. We made such a nice connection. She loved your necklace and the other things and can't wait to her own "last chemo" party and pass your necklace along to someone else. Thank you for making my day so special. It meant a lot to me, as do you. You're the best!

What a nice blog post this was too read. It really made me smile. Love the juice lid tip too. I had no idea!!